Valdemar saga (in chronological order of the world, not order of publication):
Friends, we're back in Valdemar! According to the timeline, we've moved just over 100 years into the future from where we last left off. In Exile's Honor, we meet Alberich, a Karsite! Karse is Valdemar's neighbor to the south, a hard land with rocky soil and run by mostly corrupt religious priests. Karse has been at war with Valdemar on and off for centuries and the priests have taught the citizenry that magic is bad and we meet Alberich as he's being burned because they think (rightfully) that he has magic. At this point, Alberich is Chosen by his Companion (the white horse-like animals who are super smart) Kantor who rides in to save the day.
I quite like this one. Alberich is a rich character and he mucks up, but always tries to do right. He's subtly funny and while Kantor isn't as funny as some of the other Companions, he's good for telling Alberich when Alberich is about to step into it since poor Alberich doesn't really understand Valedemarian customs.
I don't think you could just step into these books, though. There's so much backstory that I think if you thought you'd just pick this one up, you'd be pretty confused. But maybe you could? Interesting question. 4/5 stars
Line of note:
"The problem with that assumption is that once a man of honor sees what his leaders are doing is wrong, shouldn't it be incumbent on him to do something about it?" Talamir asked the princess, who made a little grimace of impatience. "With the sorts of things that the Sunpriests have been doing, even the most devout worshiper of Vkandis is going to run out of excuses for their excesses."
"What if he can't?" she asked. "Do something about it, I mean."
"If nothing else, he should leave," Sendar pointed out. "But giving his support to a bad leader, he reinforces the position of that leader. People see that he is good, and since he continues to act in support of the leader, however inadvertently, they assume there is must be very compelling reasons for the leader to act as he is, and they continue to bear the intolerable." (page 52-53)
Tough to read this in the U.S. these days. I don't know if leaving is the right answer.
Thing I looked up:
poniard (page 82) - A small, slim dagger
Hat mentions (why hats?):
Alberich opened the trunk and selected his disguise with care; leather trews, battered boots and hat, scarred black leather jerkin strong enough to turn most blades, and a shirt of no particular color that was a bit frayed about the cuffs and collar. (page 180)
The regular servers knew him by now, or at least, they knew Aarak's distinctive hat. (page 182)
...the murder-hole had made a good place for a young Princess to drop petals and peas down on unsuspecting visitors, with extra points awarded for the pea that landed squarely in the middle of a fashionable hat without the wearer noticing. (page 218)
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We follow this up with Exile's Valor.
The war is over. Young Selenay is queen. Things are fine, although her Council is trying to convince her to get married. But then there's this hot Rathwellan prince...
Um, look, this isn't as strong a book as the first one. There's a gaping plot hole at the end. There's a swift change in character from Selenay being a young lady with a good head on her shoulders to an idiot. There's a real comedown in the stakes from war in the first book to court schemes in this one. But, hey, you've got Companions and stained glass windows, so what else do you really need? 3.5/5 stars
Lines of note:
"You know, as often as I see it, I'm still amazed at how self-deluded a lot of women are. A man says one thing, and does something else, and they believe the words and not the actions." (page 22)
When people show you who they are, believe them.
Hat mentions:
...pulled the floppy black hat down tighter. (page 96)
knitted hats and gloves (page 119)
Her hair was surmounted by a fur hat rather than her crown...(page 123)
...young man was wearing a hat that was reasonably identifiable. Alberich kept his eye on that hat...as it huddled with several more hats off to one side - (page 126)
...eventually the figures brought the hat, and its owner, into Alberich's line-of-sight. (page 126)
He wore a half-mask of gold surmounted by a huge hat crowned with feathers...(page 263)
"...I'll eat my hat without the salt." (page 276)
He stuffed the hat in the satchel of books and papers. (page 279)
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I think Valdemar might be the longest saga I've ever read. I have read some long-running series (Sue Grafton's Alphabet series and JD Robb's In Death series come to mind), but this is really a saga, spanning centuries. What's the longest series you've ever read?
The longest series I've ever read? Hmmm. It might be Sue Grafton's. 25 books is a lot. These sound good- interesting quote from the first one!
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